The Ricky Gervais Show: Season Three Debuts April 20th

Published: February 8, 2012

There are lots of podcasts that are inspired by TV shows but you don’t often hear of a TV show that’s based on a podcast.

The audio recordings — created by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington — are so popular (more than 300 million downloads) that they’ve been used to create an animated comedy series for HBO.

Season three of The Ricky Gervais Show debuts on April 20th. The 13 episodes will run through July 13th.

Here’s the press release from HBO:

“THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW,” THE ANIMATED COMEDY SERIES BASED ON THE SMASH-HIT PODCAST, RETURNS FOR ITS THIRD SEASON APRIL 20, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2012 – THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW, the animated comedy series based on the record-breaking podcast, returns to HBO for its 13-episode third season FRIDAY, APRIL 20 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT), with other new episodes debuting subsequent Fridays at the same time. The voices are recorded by Ricky Gervais, his longtime collaborator, Stephen Merchant, and Gervais’ colleague and friend, Karl Pilkington, whose offbeat musings inspire many of the storylines.

THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW animates the podcast that first appeared on the Guardian website, subsequently earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most downloads. In March 2011, the podcast reportedly passed the 300 million download mark.

Topics covered in season three include: Karl ruminating on museum collections, his invention of the mug coaster, a movie pitch, and Karl, Stephen and Ricky shedding new light on charitable causes.

THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW has inspired critical praise, with the New York Times saying the series is “proof that big laughs can come in small doses,” while the New York Post described the show as “crazy fun,” and the Houston Chronicle observed that the show’s “pointless conversations will keep you in stitches.”

Ricky Gervais the liberal humanist who exploits the mentally disabled and vulnerable for commercial and comedy purposes. He thanks “God” that he is an atheist. So do we……
Gervais is a yellow pussy who only hits on safe and soft targets. He now cries crocodile tears over a deceased bear. Does he think we are stupid? His publicist could have come up with something more creative and original. It is an old recycled soundbite frequently used for damage limitation comtrol. What a rancid soul……..